1.5-degree climate commitment ‘in jeopardy’: We need more action

The fossil fuel industry is killing us” and “leaders are not up to their people,” says the UN chief after a meeting with world leaders on the climate issue prior to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), to be held soon in Egypt.

During a private meeting of heads of state and government at UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for greater climate leadership, warning that efforts to keep global temperature rise 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels are “on ventilation”.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the UN chief said he had spoken to leaders about the climate emergency and the “triple global crisis” of food, energy and finance.

Guterres explained to the assembled leaders that the devastation he witnessed in Pakistan, where floods covered about a third of the country at its peak, occurred with only 1.2 degrees of global warming: the world is currently on track for a global rise of more than three degrees, or that translates into one word: disaster.

The meeting, co-chaired by Guterres and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, was billed as a “frank and informal exchange” of views between the leaders, and as an opportunity to address key issues ahead of the UN climate change conference COP27, to be held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in November.

The meeting took place against a backdrop of worsening climate impacts and unprecedented carbon emissions, which are hitting vulnerable communities hardest.

Four hot topics were addressed during the informal talks: the need to be more ambitious on mitigation, climate finance, adaptation, and loss and damage. In all of them we are failing, said the Secretary-General.

Mitigation

On mitigation, Guterres noted that emissions must be almost halved by 2030, but are on track to increase by 14%, and called on representatives of the world’s major economies, the G20 countries, to phase out coal, increase investment in renewable energy and end their “addiction to fossil fuels.”

“The fossil fuel industry is killing us,” he said, “and leaders are not up to their people, who are crying out for urgent climate action.”

Financing

Under the landmark Paris Climate Agreement, developing countries were promised $100 billion annually to finance initiatives to help them cope with the effects of climate change. To date, that objective has not been met. The UN chief stated that financial commitments to the developing world must be fulfilled immediately, and in full.

“I stressed the need to double adaptation support to $40 billion annually by 2025,” Guterres continued. “Climate destruction is happening now. People are suffering now.”

Ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), the Secretary-General expressed his hope that the event will advance these debates, as a matter of climate justice, international solidarity and trust.

CO2 emissions will need _{to be halved by 2030 to avoid a temperature increase of 2.7C or more by the end of the century.}

Cooperate to lower prices

A Summit of G20 Heads of State and Government will be held in Bali in November during the final days of COP27, and Guterres urged leaders to make important decisions to tackle the food, energy and financial “triple crisis”.

He urged international cooperation and solidarity to lower prices that have skyrocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, increase support for developing countries, and avert a major crisis next year.

International financial institutions must also step up and provide debt relief to developing countries, Guterres said, adding that new mechanisms to get resources to countries that need them should be improved and expanded.

Source: UN News